Final Farewell
by MoMo the Mesh Monster
Summary: The world had just been saved. But what of him? What happened to him? Is he lost forever, or will we have the chance to say a final farewell? WARNING: SPOILERS. Read at your own discretion. Slight MinatoxMitsuru


**Hello hello!! This is my take on what the MC would say right before everyone lost their memories and what-not. I don't think I pinned them perfectly (so forgive me if they're OOC). The MC is OOC too. I can straight up tell you that much. Haha. But, I figured he'd be the person who'd act all strong and do the "fake-happy-even-though-I'm-about-to-die-soon" thing. Oh, and if you haven't guessed this already, there are some fairly major spoilers in here so read at your own discretion (it's sounds dirty that way. . .)**

**Disclaimer: Persona 3 and all its jazz does not belong to me but to ATLUS and whoever created it.**

* * *

The eightsome stood before the tower of labyrinths that was crumbling into nothingness. Heads held high, they watched it, as all their pain and hardwork paid off. The world was saved. The tower was gone. But, the tower wasn't the only thing that was gone. So was one of their friends. He was brave, showing no fear. He was understanding and compassionate, never one to complain. The person that each one of them could trust with their own life had just sacrificed his for the world. They didn't even get to say a final farewell.

* * *

_I could have sworn I saw him. He was there, I just know he was. He was looking at us, looking at me. _A blinding light flashes, blurring my vision. The light doesn't stop though. I set my eyes to dim mode, so I can see clearly. _It's him!! He's alive!_ A smile crosses the young man's face. _No, is he not staying?! Is he going to leave?!_ I begin to panic. _I won't loose him, not him!!_ He steps out of the light and begins walking towards me. The others are just staring at him, tears welling up in the eyes of the females. "I want to talk to each of you," he tells us. "Starting with you." He looks at me. I swallow and nod my head, too full of pure bliss to speak any words.

We step away from the group, out of earshot. We face each other. He just stares at me, a habit that I've noticed he's gotten into. He speaks first. "I want to thank you," he says. "For everything. You've worked so hard at protecting me and being at my side. And, I know you might think that you're not human, and that you never will be, but I believe that you are, even if you're body won't let you be one." Tears begin to pour out of my eyes, and I find I'm helpless to stop them. "Now now, no need for that," he clucks like a mother. He extends his right hand and wipes away my tears. He swooshes his hair in his right eye over a bit and strangely enough, smiles. "Promise me one thing, okay?" I nod. "Don't stick your finger in a light socket, all right? I don't want you to cause a power outage." He laughs. Unconsciously, a smile crosses my face as well. No longer restraining myself, I rope him into a hug, a hug that I wish would never end.

* * *

He looks at me, next. He cocks his head to where the two were before, so I follow him there. When we stop walking, he casually puts his hands in his pockets like he always does. Seeing him stand there nonchalantly, it makes me tear up. I bite my bottom lip to keep from doing so, but it doesn't help. The tears roll down my cheeks as I begin to sob uncontrollably. He pulls out his left hand and places it on my head. He tussles my light brown hair a bit, and normally I'd be upset at him treating me like a kid, but I don't mind this one time.

"You know, you don't always have to act grown up," he tells me. "You should be a kid while you still can, I mean, being a teenager isn't really that fun." He smiles. "I'm not telling you to stop being mature, seeing as how a good deal of our dormmates aren't," he stops to look at my reaction. I smile to be polite, and mature, "but don't forget to be a kid sometimes, like watching your favorite tv show on Sunday morning, right?" What he says surprises me, and I'm knocked off guard for a moment. He smiles again. "One last thing," he hesitates a bit. "I'm sure . . . no, I know that Shinjiro-san and your mother are proud of you." My eyes tear up once again. "And promise me that you won't join them too quickly?" I can't hold them back anymore so I just let them pour. I nod my head repeatedly, trying to say that I will but the words are just muffled by my sobs.

* * *

They approach the rest of us. Each of us is thinking the same thing, "Who will he talk to next?" I hope, _pray_, that it's me. I need to talk to him; I _have_ to talk to him. He stretches out his hand and places it on my right arm. _My prayer must have been heard. _We step away from the rest of the group. I want to hug him so badly right now, but he wants to talk first so I'll let him do so. My breathing grows harder and louder as I play with my blue skirt. _The color blue reminds me so much of tears. Of . . . him._ I swallow, and I'm almost positive that he heard it. He glances over at me but quickly resumes his staring at where the tower used to be.

"We had a good many memories on the rooftop at school," he breaks the silence. "I remember all those times that you fed me your homemade boxed lunches. The first few were rough," he states with a grin, "but you finally got the hang of it in the end." I sniffle at the thoughts of the two of us hanging out on the school's rooftop. "You said that you cooked only as a contribution to the team, to thank them. I think you should keep cooking though," he calmly says. "I mean, you got pretty good if you ask me! Plus, I think the others like homemade meals sometimes instead of just heated food. Not to mention, someday you'll have your own family, so you'll need to know how to cook!" He laughs. "Unless you marry a guy who knows how to cook, too!" My heart pounds. He cooks. He's _really_ good at cooking, too. I should tell him; I should tell him right now how I feel. But I can't bring myself to do it. Instead, I smother my face into his shirt, trying to avoid the harsh reality of it, that I might not get to see him again. I begin to tremble. He wraps his arms around me, and I wish that I could just stay in his embrace. "Hey, promise that you'll do something for me," he whispers. "Promise me you won't give up on cooking? You don't have to work on it twenty-four-seven, but don't give up on it. You're good at it." I nod my head in his chest, making a promise that I know I'll keep.

* * *

The two of them walk back to the rest of us. Before talking to him, she was crying and sad, but now, it looks like she's at peace. _I wonder what he said to her, and the other two as well._ He looks at me. I nod, and we leave the group. He takes a deep breath and exhales. Disliking awkward silences, I fidget and swing my jacket from my right shoulder to my left. He still just stands there. _Say something dammit!!_ He tucks his hands into his pockets and continues to stare at the school. _I don't need some soppy speech! I just need him to say something!!_ He smirks. _What the?!_

"I bet you probably never knew this, but I always admired you," he speaks. I'm shocked at what he says. "You always showed such passion and emotion toward almost everything. I could never garner that much emotion for almost anything, and yet, you could manage to over anything." _I never thought about it like that . . ._ "You always know what you want, and you don't hesitate when it comes to getting it." He smiles, and for the second time, I'm shocked. "You went through some really tough things, but you kept on going. You never slowed down. If anything, you sped up." He laughs, shocking me once again. "You'll take care of the others, right? No matter what? Even after you graduate pretty soon?" he asks me. I smirk and nod my head confidently. With a small chuckle, he says, "Good." He shifts his weight to his right leg. "Would you mind promising me something?" I nod. "Work on your right jab a little more. It needs some improvement," he lectures. "You focus too much on your left hand, that your right hand's work is a little sloppy." _He's preaching to ME about boxing?! Who does he think he is?!_ "Well?" he questions, not cocky but something else, something hard to describe. I huff and give him a swift but not too hard of a right hand jab to his shoulder.

* * *

As the two come toward us, I notice that Senpai looks happier than normal, while_ he_ rubs his shoulder. _I wonder what happened? Only three of us left to talk to. I bet the two girls want to hurry up and talk to him._ I look at them. The brunette is fiddling with a piece of her hair, while the older red-head is tapping her foot. He turns towards me and heads my way. I step away from the group and start heading away before he even gets to me. He doesn't say anything, just follows silently with his hands in his pockets. I stop, and he catches up to me a few seconds later. He rocks his head back and forth, trying to pop his neck. I just stand there, adjusting my baseball cap.

"Still wish you were the one who got to be hero?" he asks jokingly. Embarrassed, I lower my head, thinking of how foolish I was back then. "Better me than you." _How can he say that? He's got so many people who care about him, while all I have is the rest of the group._ A silence ensues. "I want to say thanks," he says, breaking the silence. I glance at him, bewildered. "You were my first best friend, even if you did give me hell a few times," he says with a smile. "I think it was thanks to you that I decided to make more friends. Before, I think I would have kept to myself, but you talked to me when I never thought of talking to anyone at all." Even though it's not manly, I blush. He exhales. "You know, I don't think we've ever really talked like this before," he states. "We never really opened up though. I guess it's because it's not very manly," he jokes. I smile and laugh a bit with him. "I was always kind of jealous of you," he tells me. _Jealous . . . of me?_ "You could always say something funny and entertain people. They enjoyed being around you." _I can't believe what he's saying. I was always jealous of him!_ He sighs. "Hey, mind if I ask you to make a promise to me?" I nod my head since words don't seem to form. "Promise me you'll start working harder on things, on life. Take up baseball, like how you said you'd be a probaseball player as a kid. Or anything for that matter." He smiles and looks at me. I nod, and we shake hands.

* * *

I glance over at the only girl who hasn't talked with him yet aside from me. She's still staring at the ground, even when the two walk back up to the group. _Will I be last?_ He looks at me and smiles. He holds out his right hand, and I gladly take it. He releases it as we get farther away from the group. I swallow a hard and painful swallow. It felt as though a brick of concrete just went down my throat. For some reason, I feel nervous, _anxious_ about this, about what he's going to say. I grab my pink sweater zipper and begin dragging it up and down. After a minute or two, the noise calms me, so I slowly stop. I notice that his hands are in his pockets and his hips are slightly leaning forward, making his shoulders go back. _He never changes._ I stare at his face. _He looks the same though. Only something feels different, like he's more serene._

He clears his throat and speaks. "Ah, I see your tears have stopped." As soon as the words leave his mouth, my eyes instantly fill with tears. He gasps. "That wasn't supposed to make you cry!" I can't help it though. The tears start to fall like rain. He looks so distressed. I feel horrible for making him worry. Surprisingly, he grabs me and embraces me in a hug. I let the tears freely pour as I quietly sob. After placing a hand on the back of my head, he speaks again. "I want to say that I'm sorry. I'm sorry that I wasn't there for you sooner. I wish that I had been more willing to open up to you in the beginning and talk to you about things. I'm sorry that I couldn't help with anything that you were going through. And I'm sorry . . . that all of this is my fault, that I couldn't change anything, even with my power." Everything he's saying isn't true. He shouldn't be sorry; he didn't do anything wrong. _He helped me out so much. I probably wouldn't be here if it wasn't for him . . ._ He sighs. "Promise me one thing, okay? Promise me you won't worry too much about the past, all right? Look to the future. Memories and the past are important, but don't be blinded by things you can't change. Focus on the archery club, for instance. Take fate into your own hands and forge your future. Do that . . . for me." I start to tremble, and the tears just come out even harder. I clench his jacket, hoping that he takes it as a "yes."

* * *

I was last. _Is it a good thing, or a bad thing?_ The brunette and him head our ways a few minutes after leaving us. She's crying, but she still seems . . . happy. _How can they be happy? He's going!! We won't get to see him again!! How?? How can they be like that?_ He looks at me, but I can't dare to look at him. He takes a few steps towards me and resumes his staring. _Why does he always do that? I can't tell what he's thinking . . . _He grabs my hand, urging me to walk with him, but I can't. I can't seem to move. It's as if by going with him I'd be admitting the fact that he's leaving. I won't. I won't let him go!! I look up. A smile is spread across his face. It's not a smile of happiness, but rather, a smile of tranquility. Yes, he looks . . . at ease. I sigh, and he knows that he's won. By the hand, he leads me away from the others. I think back, and I'm six again, being led by my father. He stops, still holding my hand. _Here it comes. I'm ready for it . . . I think . . . _I glance over at him, and what I see surprises me. He's crying, quietly.

He licks his lips, and I instantly know that he's about to start talking. "For each of the others, I knew exactly what I was going to say," he starts, "but only one thing comes to mind to say to you . . ." He trails off. I step in front of him, staring him in the eyes. Even though he's stopped crying, I'm close to breaking into them. "I . . . don't want to leave you. I want to be with you. When you graduate and give your valedictorian speech. When you become head of your family's business. I want to be with you through the thick and thin." I cry and embrace him. As I do, I feel him shaking as well, and I know that he's crying too. While he brushes his fingers through my hair, his scent awakens me. Reality hits, and I realize that this will probably be the last time I can hug him like this. "I love you," he says, no hesitation, no fear. I hug him even harder, unable to say anything back, but I know that he knows that I love him too. "Hey," he casually says. "Do you remember that promise you made to me?" He looks down at me, and I look up at him. "You promised that you'd let me ride on your motorcycle someday." I smile. He knows that it won't happen, but he doesn't want to admit it. "I expect you to keep that promise, too. It wouldn't look good for your family's pride to see you breaking a promise like that!" He laughs. I can't believe he's joking at a time like this. We stay in each others' arms for a few minutes later before returning to the others. As we get closer, our hands still entwined, we see that they're all crying. Tears roll down my face as well. But him, _he's_ still relaxed and normal as can be, aside from the fact that he's smiled more now than his whole life put together. As we stand there with the others, we hear a whimper. He looks down.

At his feet sits our faithful companion, our dog. He bends down to face it. "Hey, boy. I'm gonna miss you, too." He smiles. He rubs its head, arousing a few hassles from the dog. "Promise me you'll take care of the others, m'kay? And don't forget to nag them about taking you on walks. You're a good friend, buddy, and I'm glad to have met you." He breathes in and stands up, facing us.

* * *

This will be the last time I get to say goodbye to them, at least while they have their memories. Until graduation day, they won't remember any of this, so I wanted to tell them goodbye while they still remembered everything. It hurts to leave them, but it's the only way. And, I'm sure they know that too.

* * *

**By the way, just curious, but do I have to do a disclaimer everytime?? *sigh* Oh well. Anyway, R&R to make the Mesh Monster happy!!  
Mesh Monster: If you don't, then I'll eat all your meshmellows!! **

**How very punny of you Mesh Monster. Very punny indeed. XD**


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